The history of nanotechnology

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The history of nanotechnology

Unit II

1. Practice the following words:

Microscope ['maikrəskəup], oxide ['a:ksaid], gravity ['græviti], quantum ['kwa:ntəm], carbon ['ka:bən].

2. Study the vocabulary list:

individual atoms – одиночные атомы

semiconductor – полупроводник

fullerenes – фуллерены

nanoparticles – наночастицы

oxide – окись

van der Vaals attraction – Ван-дер Ваальсовы силы

gravity – сила тяжести

carbon nanotubes – углеродные нанотрубки

magnitude – величина

nanocrystals - нанокристаллы

The first use of the concepts found in 'nano-technology' (but pre-dating use of that name) was in "There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” a talk given by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on December 29, 1959. Feynman described a process by which the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules might be developed, using one set of precise tools to build and operate another proportionally smaller set, and so on down to the needed scale. In the course of this, he noted, scaling issues would arise from the changing magnitude of various physical phenomena: gravity would become less important, surface tension and van der Waals attraction would become increasingly more significant, etc. This basic idea appeared plausible, and exponential assembly enhances it with parallelism to produce a useful quantity of end products. The term "nanotechnology" was defined by Tokyo Science University Professor Norio Taniguchi in a 1974 paper as follows: "'Nano-technology' mainly consists of the processing of, separation, consolidation, and deformation of materials by one atom or by one molecule." In the 1980s the basic idea of this definition was explored in much more depth by Dr. K. Eric Drexler, who promoted the technological significance of nano-scale phenomena and devices through speeches and the books Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (1986) and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation, and so the term acquired its current sense. Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology is considered the first book on the topic of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology and nanoscience got started in the early 1980s with two major developments; the birth of cluster science and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). This development led to the discovery of fullerenes in 1985 and carbon nanotubes a few years later. In another development, the synthesis and properties of semiconductor nanocrystals was studied; this led to a fast increasing number of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles and quantum dots. The atomic force microscope (AFM or SFM) was invented six years after the STM was invented. In 2000, the United States National Nanotechnology Initiative was founded to coordinate Federal nanotechnology research and development and is evaluated by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

4. Find in the text English word-combinations corresponding to the following Russian ones:

Определять термин «нанотехнология»; процесс деформации и разделения материалов атомом или молекулой; привести к открытию фуллеренов; увеличение количества металлов; управлять одиночными атомами; координировать нанотехнологические исследования; отмечать технологическую значимость наноприборов.

5. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

1) The term ‘nanotechnology’ was first defined by physicist Richard Feynman in the USA.

2) The term ‘nanotechnology’ acquired its current sense in the 1980s.

3) The birth of cluster science and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope prompted the start of nanoscience.

4) The study of the synthesis and properties of semiconductor nanocrystal led to the discovery of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes.

5) The canning tunneling microscope was invented six years earlier than the atomic force microscope.

6. Answer the following questions:

1) What did Richard Feynman describe at an American Physical Society on December 29, 1959?

2) How was the term ‘nonotechnology’ defined by Professor Norio Taniguchi in 1974?

3) When did the term ‘nonotechnology’ acquire its current sense?

4) Which book is considered to be the first on the topic of nanotechnology?